1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for dispensing disks, such as coins or medals, from a storage hopper in a game or arcade console and, more particularly, a device to control the ejection of the disks.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional coin handling apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,001 and is shown in FIG. 9. The coin handling apparatus shown in FIG. 9 includes a hopper (101) payout assembly and an elongated duct having front and back panes (114, 151), first and second edge panels (341, 321), and a channel (125) therein for receiving a stack of coins (181) of a given denomination in single edge-to-edge column, between an inlet end (113) and an outlet end (111). An inlet end (113) of the channel communicates with a payout chute (139) of the hopper, and a single outlet slot (301) is provided in the first edge panel (341) at the outlet end (111).
The above-mentioned coin handling apparatus comprises a coin ejector assembly including an ejector member for forcibly ejecting coins through the outlet slot (301). This ejector member comprises a roller extending into the channel (125) adjacent the outlet end (111) thereof.
The ejector member is rotatable about an axis substantially normal to the front and back panels (114, 151) and movable between a first position closer to the second edge panel (321) than the first edge panel (341) and off-center relative to the width of the channel (125) in a direction away from said outlet slot (301) and a second position further away from the outlet slot (301) than said first position. The coin ejector assembly includes biasing means (201) for urging said ejector member in said first position whereby the ejector member urges said coins toward the outlet slot (301) and forcibly ejects them therethrough. Since the ejected coins are ejected from the side of the duct, it is necessary to provide means at the side of the duct for receiving ejected coins. This presents a problem since in some cases insufficient space is available on the side of the duct. Accordingly, the art is still seeking an improved ejector assembly controlling the dispensing of coins.